NPC Stats – How much detail is enough?
Over at Treasure Tables Martin Ralya asked the question, NPC Stats: Full, Partial or Loose? which I have to say is an excellent question.
There are benefits and drawbacks to each and a lot depends on your style as a GM.
For myself personally I find that most of my NPCs start at the “bottom” as a loose NPC. This simply means that there are few if any stats. One of the major NPCs in my last campaign started this way. I pulled together a description for him and only included the character class I wanted him to be and a rough idea of level.
The next level up is having partial stats. For most campaigns this is all you need for most reoccurring NPCs. At this level I have their primary stats (ability scores, health, and any important skills or feats) and enough additional detail that when they interact with the characters appropriate rolls can be made and if necessary a short melee (if appropriate).
Finally you have those NPC that you’ve fleshed everything out for. Every last detail is accounted for, all skills and feats are fleshed out, weaponry, spells, henchmen and a bit of history and motives. These are usually your major NPCs, the “movers and shakers” in your world, those that give the PCs heartburn and stress for sessions on end.
Now I know that others need to have the total package for every NPC in their world and that’s fine. I for one feel that “promoting” a NPC based on their place in the campaign is a better way to manage them – why put all the work into a NPC that the characters will interact with once? I’d rather spend the extra time on the plot and setting up the needed information for the encounters.
What do you think? How much detail is enough for you?
May your dice roll well.
I stat based on how much action the NPC is going to see. For instance, good old King Michael might not do much other than talk to the PCs, maybe grant them titles or rewards, or ask them for help. He might be a serious mover and shaker in the campaign, but there’s no reason to know more about him than name, physical description, and personality. Maybe a few mental or verbal ticks to make him stand out. But he hardly needs stats, unless I decide he’s going to be involved in a fight with the PCs or beside them.
On the other hand, an NPC who will travel with the PCs really needs to be stated to the full. As a resource for the players to exploit, I need to know not only their combat abilities, but also their more social skills, their contacts and associations, and also their goals and desires. Companion and follower NPCs get the fullest stating treatment in my games. Second to them are the big boss opponents, who get almost as much statting as the companion NPCs. Combat obstacles need only combat stats, usually, and I assume a certain level of skill in basic survive and culture.
– Brian